The price of Bitcoins went over $1,000 near the end of the week, thanks to a bull run that started on Tuesday and hasn’t subsided since. Only less than a month ago, the price took a steep dive from a similar position to $880, while subsequent market events didn’t give it room for any further growth. But now, with the value of BTC once again back to similar heights, the real question is will it hold this time?
The price of Bitcoins went over $1,000 near the end of the week, thanks to a bull run that started on Tuesday and hasn’t subsided since. Only less than a month ago, the price took a steep dive from a similar position to $880, while subsequent market events didn’t give it room for any further growth. But now, with the value of BTC once again back to similar heights, the real question is will it hold this time?
In other news, US Congressman and Bitcoin supporter Mick Mulvaney, whom we talked about in our recent update, has been approved as Budget Director by a narrow vote of 12-11 at the Senate. The strongest opposition came from the Democrats, who criticized him for his fiscal positions, but also his failure to pay $15,000 in taxes for his babysitter, for whom he had to back pay and face fines.
However, Bitcoin supporters might find less to be worried about, as Mulvaney was a co-founder of what is known as the Bitcoin Caucus (Congressional Blockchain Caucus), which he established to keep Congress up to date on blockchain and cryptocurrencies and create policies to promote them. He also supports Coin Center a non-profit center focused on policy problems virtual currencies are facing.
In the past 48 hours, the price of Bitcoin kept rising, just like discussed, with a minor burst of volatility that was noted today. Its lowest point was on Thursday when it dropped down to $973.21, while the highest peak was reached today when the price went up to $1012.80, followed by a fast $20 plunge that was sustained for less than an hour, before the price reversed.
The price increase coincides with a new wave of interest, as the trading volume is now at $191,555,000, while the market cap is at a record high of $16.6 billion. As always, high volume means higher chances for price corrections.
Our technical analysis shows that the market is heavily pro- buy, with all 12 moving averages and 10 out of 12 technical oscillators sending a buying signal on a 1-hour time frame. The SMA 100 is safely above the SMA 200 on a short frame, hinting at an upward path. However, considering that the NFP report is to be released in a couple of hours, other commercial trading markets might go either way and drag Bitcoin along with it. So, be wary of any changes soon.
Other noteworthy news that this week brought was that the Central Bank of India (RBI) is now warning any users, traders, or keepers of virtual currencies about the prospective legal, financial, operational and security risks that could stem from their use. The Bank also publicly stressed that they haven’t licensed or authorized any company or individual to run Bitcoin (or other virtual currency) “schemes”
Due to the unlicensed operation of any virtual currency exchange or trading platform, the RBI says that any user choosing to deal with virtual currencies in any way is also choosing to accept the risks of doing so. They stress that there is no central bank authorizing the trading and creation of virtual currencies, nor has any registration been obtained by the entities that provide such activities.
It’s interesting to note that this warning comes not long after the Indian Bitcoin market saw a spike in interest, which, in part, was due to the demonetization of 500 and 1,000 Rupee notes by the government as a way to curb black money tax evasion.